


Why Do We Fall?

by daaarkknight (orphan_account)



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bruce Wayne is Batman, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Thomas Wayne is Batman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 7,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21625042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/daaarkknight
Summary: Kal-El of Krypton is adopted by the privileged Wayne family of Earth, and given a new name: Bruce Wayne.Or, the one where everyone's worst nightmare comes true: Batman is unstoppable.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle, Thomas Wayne/Martha Wayne
Kudos: 21
Collections: Batman, Batman Family Fics, Batman Universe Series, BatmanFanfiction, Favorite Batman Fics, batman orignal characters





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FabulaRasa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FabulaRasa/gifts), [Mithen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mithen/gifts), [LemonadeGarden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonadeGarden/gifts), [Unpretty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unpretty/gifts).



Martha Wayne does her own gardening. Martha Wayne is Kansas-born-and-bred, and fuck if she was going to let anyone else touch her flowers.

She's getting her hands dirty, when she looks up and sees a meteor. 

Thomas Wayne comes home exhausted. Not today, of all days, is he going to put up with his shrew of a wife. He bangs the door loudly on his way in, to let her know who is boss.

He promptly forgets this information himself when he turns a corner and runs into her accusing eyes.

"Where've you been, Thomas?" she demands.

"At the strip club. What do _you_ think, honey?"

"Oh don't answer smart like that. I know what you get up to when no one's watching. But remember, just because I'm defenseless, doesn't mean you can go around sinking your cock into whatever warm hole strikes your fancy. God's always watching."

Martha Wayne is frigid, and her worst fear is that she's married her father. 

"Oh, give it a break, lady. I've embraced the fact that I'm never going to have sex again in my life. You needn't keep reminding me."

"Stop making such a martyr of yourself."

Their argument is interrupted when a baby wails shrilly. 

"What, is that a baby?" Thomas Wayne quickly withdraws his gun and follows the source of the noise. 

He always carries a gun. It makes him feel safer. The city is crumbling around them, and despite spending every last penny of his fortune trying to save it, Thomas has barely made a dent. 

"Yes, Thomas, it's a baby burglar."

"Shush."

He opens the door to their guest bedroom, where a baby lies in an antique crib. 

"Surprise!" Martha Wayne says. "It came with the meteor. It's ours."

The baby starts floating. In the air. Thomas Wayne is sure he's finally having the breakdown his doctor had warned him he would be having very soon, if he didn't lay off all the Good-Samaritan-ing and focus on himself. 

"The meteor." He says dully. 

"Uhuh. The one in the back garden. It's a _spaceship!_ " 

"Martha I demand you lay off this instant!" 

Martha Wayne looks puzzled. 

"I know you, you witch. Turn it off. Stop messing with my mind!" 

"Okay, Tommy. I'll lay it off. I'm going upstairs, where you're out of reach of my _powers._ You can go out into the backyard and see for yourself."

Thomas _did_ go into the backyard, and he _did_ see for himself. It did not help his clarity of mind. 

"So it's an alien," he thought. 

But a suspicious thought entered his head. If a technologically advanced alien race wanted to colonize humanity, didn't it make sense to play on the sympathies of the human race by sending what even the most evil motherfucker holds sacred, a humanoid _baby?_

And why the fuck is the thing _floating?_ What the fuck did it think, that it's _above_ the rest of them? 

Thomas would show it. He cocks the gun. 

_Bang._

Martha Wayne runs screaming down the stairs. The baby is crying loudly. Thomas looks at it unbelieving. 

It's fucking _bulletproof._


	2. Chapter 2

They name him Robert the Bruce. 

"After my ancestor," proclaims Thomas proudly.

"Yeah, sure _._ "

"One day he will be the savior of Gotham. God willing."

"I don't see why he should be. Isn't it enough for you to destroy your own health and life on this _crusade_ of yours? Now you want to destroy our son's?"

"But he's going to have powers anyway, and if he can help make the world a better place..."

"Stop it stop it stop it. He's my son, not some _resource._ "

"He's _ours._ "

"Yeah, I'm saying mine. I'm not the one who shot him, and then seeing he was bulletproof, suddenly decided he was worth keeping after all."

"That's not what happened."

"That's _exactly_ what happened."

"Well, sue me. You decided to keep him because he was _cute._ If he was some tentacled gelatinous glob with twenty eyes, _you_ would have been the one to pull the trigger."

Thomas has a point. Martha has a thing for cute babies. But who doesn't?

"He didn't choose to be cute any more than he chose to be bulletproof. Let's admit we both have our faults and move on."

Martha admits no such thing. Thomas sighs. 

"I need some sleep."

"What do we do about infant formula?"

"Buy some."

"But...which brand?" Martha is flustered.

" _Any_ brand, for God's sake, woman. I just came from a scene where a starving woman ate her own dead baby, and you're worried about picking the _right brand?_ "

"You know, I liked you better when you didn't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders."

"Yeah. I liked myself better too."


	3. Chapter 3

Robert the Bruce is a baby with an excess amount of good taste. Especially when it comes to infant formula, baby powder, diapers, clothes, cribs, toys, and people. He protests everything. Constantly.

"It's like he's a royal," says Martha.

"We have to bring him down to Earth," says Thomas. "He cannot be raised expecting the best of everything."

"When the people outside are starving. Yes, yes, I know. But you will not raise my baby with a guilt complex because he has a full stomach."

Although he can hover, he cannot control when he 'activates' it. This results in mass chaos and panic when one day, guests come to visit. Robert had been warned multiple times not to 'fly' when other people were around by Thomas. He had babbled acquiescingly.

It is still disputed in the Wayne household whether Robert is a precocious baby who likes to cause trouble, or is an innocent who genuinely didn't understand what was being told him. Opinions are divided. 

Robert is two. He talks constantly. His vowels are all wrong, and despite being taken to several speech therapists, he slurs his words. No one can understand what is wrong.

“Mama, canIhoveapeachvefinishedmydinnrpleaschpleasepeach.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Thomas snaps. “Martha, give him the goddamn peach.”

“Thenk you, mama.”

Thomas bangs his head on the table.

Martha Wayne collects her son in her arms. “You’re alright, Robbie. You’re perfect. No matter what your father says.”

Thomas looks at her sadly. He gets up and comes around the table, and puts his arms around his wife and son.

“I love you, Robert Bruce Wayne. You’re perfect. Just the way you are.”

“Thenk you, papa.”

“Now finish your peach and get out of here. It’s past your bedtime.”


	4. Chapter 4

Thomas Wayne, bankrupt owner of Wayne Enterprises, has his fingers in every project in the city. He knows every nook and cranny. Every dirty public official, every cop on the take.

And he is so fucking _done._

He goes home one night, and sees Martha and Robert chasing around a bat which came in through the cellar. Their frightened faces and screams when the wings came too close to beating in their faces gives him an idea.

“Robert. Where are your comics?”

“What comics, dad?” Robert is four and an avid reader of comics. He slurs less now, but that may be because he rarely speaks for having his head in a book.

“You know, those…’the Shadow knows’ sort of thing.”

“Zorro?”

“Yes!”

“Why, dad? Do you want to become like Zorro?”

Robert's precocious intuition makes Thomas smile. 

“Yes, Robert. The time has come.”

“Okay, Dad.”

Thomas is an expert gunman and has a black belt in taekwondo. But he doesn’t have half the skills he needs, and he knows it.

He’s going to have to even the odds.


	5. Chapter 5

Thomas goes to his good friend Lucius.

So maybe ‘good friend’ was pushing it. Thomas and Lucius had a falling out back in college, which resulted in Thomas calling Lucius’ mother a whore.

Since Lucius’ mother was _actually_ a whore, who had still provided for a good education for her son, Thomas immediately regretted his words. But Lucius turned his back on him resolutely. With Thomas Wayne, you never knew where you stood.

 _No wonder his wife’s a Xanthippe_ , thought Lucius, rather uncharitably himself.

But still, Thomas would trust Lucius with his life. There were only three good people in Gotham: Lucius, Robert and Martha.

“Lucius.”

“What’re you doing here, Thomas? It’s four in the morning!”

Thomas Wayne is standing outside Lucius’ apartment in the East End, a small boy hiding behind his leg. Despite being Head Engineer for Wayne Enterprises, Lucius spends most of his large salary on the homeless and lives in a rundown studio apartment.

Thomas had calculated that Lucius would not curse him out or tell him to get the hell out of there if he brought along his son. Robert’s over-large blue eyes were, Thomas had noticed, eloquent arguments.

“Oh. Who’s that?” Lucius smiled.

“It’s my son. Can we come inside?”

“Just a minute.”

Lucius closes the door. “Good job,” Thomas nods at his son.

Robert smiles shyly.

The door opens and a woman is ushered out. She’s wearing a mini skirt, and has hundred dollar bills tucked into her belt.

“See you later, Candy!” Lucius calls heartily.

Candy blows him a kiss. Thomas shields Robert’s eyes.

“Come inside,” Lucius nods, smiling. Thomas figures he either has amnesia, or is a real sucker for kids.

“So, what can I get you?”

Thomas and Robert look around. The apartment is surprisingly neat. The bed is hastily made up, the kitchen is stocked with used dishes, and the curtains are tattered. But everywhere is written, _this is a man’s home. This is where he puts up his feet. And this man has OCD._

The books are arranged large to small. The CD cases are stacked from light to dark. The forks and knives are hanging alternating, in the pantry.

“I’ll have grapefruit juice,” says Robert, just as Thomas says, “nothing”.

“Grapefruit juice it is,” nods Lucius, and opens the fridge.

Thomas feels he has to get the elephant out of the room.

“Robert, can you please wait outside for two minutes?” asks Thomas.

“No. Are you crazy? This neighborhood isn’t safe for kids alone at four in the morning!”

“No. It’s okay. He’ll be safe. I’ll tell you why.”

Once Robert is out, Thomas turns to Lucius.

“Lucius…” he says, stepping towards his old friend.

“Save it,” says Lucius with his hand up. “I know enough about your pride to know that if you came here, it’s no less than a life-and-death situation. So yes, I’ll help you. And no, we can’t be friends.”

Thomas is secretly glad. He likes knowing where he stands with people.

“Okay.” He takes in a deep breath. “Thank you, Lucius.”

“Like I said, save it.”

“So…Robert. The reason I told him to stand outside is that Robert is…bulletproof. And he can fly. Well, not currently, but he _can_. We’ve seen him do it. He’s from outer space.”

“Okay...I think we need to sit down for this conversation.”

Five minutes later, Lucius and Thomas emerge from the apartment. They find Robert leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets, with a distant look on his face, like he is five thousand miles away.

Robert has very recently arranged his expression into that particular configuration. He has been listening. Well, the technical term is _eavesdropping,_ but he isn’t going to use the technical term in his head.

They go inside. Lucius puts on his serious-man glasses.

“Okay. So where do we start.”

“Thematic weaponry.” Says Thomas.

“Toys.”

“And a suit.”

“Costume,” amends Lucius.

“With bat-ears. Look, I’ve drawn some specs.”

Thomas pulls out a sheaf of papers.

“They were inspired by my comic! Zorro!” Robert says excitedly. He wants to be included.

“Robert. You can go watch some TV,” says Thomas. “This is all pretty boring stuff.”

“It’s _not_ boring,” says Robert resolutely.

“Let the kid stay,” says Lucius. “Who knows how much use he could be?”


	6. Chapter 6

“And exactly who is going to pay for this…not exactly cheap material? Last time I checked, you had the bank account of a street urchin.”

Thomas, who has been wearing the same two shirts for the past year, and feels guilty for buying so much as an extra toothbrush, looks unashamedly at Lucius. “You, of course. _You’re_ going to embezzle. From my company.”

“Of course,” says Lucius. “Why hadn’t I thought of that? And what happens when I get caught?”

“You go to jail,” says Thomas simply. “Hazards of the job. Unless you want to take over being Batman, in which case, I will willingly embezzle on your behalf.”

“No, thank you,” says Lucius, with almost a shudder. “My involvement stops here. And I know nothing. Nothing more than the public is privy to. In fact, I may need to be able to pass a polygraph test.”

“Zorro once passed a polygraph test!” says Robert.

“And how did he do that?” asks Lucius, no patronization in his tone.

“He lied.”

“Yes, but how?”

“Tell dad to tell you he’s not Batman, he’s never going to be Batman, and he has no involvement with anything Batman-related. Then make your psyche believe it.”

They’re both amazed. Less by the idea (which has questionable merit) and more by the fact that Robert knew the word psyche.

Thomas, who has been driving a Chevrolet Sparkle, now places an order for the most expensive car in the world.

“Batman needs a getaway vehicle that can deal with a small-to-medium-sized police convoy without breaking a sweat.”

“What do you mean deal with?”

“Total. _Kaboom_.”

Lucius, for the first time, realizes the ethically dubious nature of his charge.

“And how do you propose to load this much fire power on while still keeping it streamlined? You can have a tank or a car, but not both.”

“I want both. And you can make it happen, Lucius.”

Lucius rolls his eyes. “I’m not Superman.”

“Yes you are.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Gotham is entering a new era of progress,” says Mayor McCarthy.

_27 illegal building permits issued to major crime families. Suspicious cop deaths. The murder of Police Commissioner Gordon, the only force for good the city had seen._

“The people of Gotham have spoken, and their voice has been heard.”

_You got that straight._

The turnout is slim. Mayor McCarthy’s reelection came as a surprise to no one. But every television and news channel is tuned into the mayor’s speech. And today is a day none of the viewers are going to forget. Today, Gotham is going to make national--and even international--headlines. And today is the day many viewers will be telling their grandkids about. I was there when it happened. I was at work when I saw. I was in the kitchen, honey, when…

Batman descends on to the podium. He is carrying a flamethrower. The crowd roars.

The rest is history.


	8. Chapter 8

“We are who we are for a reason, son.

“Life’s circumstances and our inborn influences conspire to bring us to the point we are at right now. And then we take full credit, and are given the full share of the blame.”

“You mean, like Mayor McCarthy?”

“Yes, son. Even the mayor.”

“Then why did you burn him, dad?”

“Because I had to. Because life’s influences have conspired against me, too.

“You will think you are above the law, Robert. You will have control and power unimaginable. But always remember: life. Life is something you can never control. There is no greater reflection to bring you to your knees than that. And on your knees you _must_ stay, Robert.”

“Yes, dad. On my knees.”

“Like a prisoner. Who doesn’t know when the final gunshot rings out, but knows it must ring.”

“That’s depressing.”

“So is life.”

Thomas and Robert (Bruce) here were inspired from [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glDGAo9SIqs) video.

Although the tone of their interaction is dark and Simba and Kiara are full of light and love, I think the words of the song fit in so well that I just wanted to make Thomas break into song or something. I couldn’t, so instead I’ve just put the link here for those of you who are interested in enjoying the full experience of this chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Martha Wayne has been visiting her parents. 

When she watches it on the news, she calls Thomas.

"Honey, did you see it? It's so _horrible_!"

That is when Thomas Wayne knew he was in trouble.

He decides to get in trouble over the phone than in close proximity.

“You did _what_?!”

Etc.

Despite Thomas listing the mayor’s crimes, Martha is close to tears.

“There were _children_ there! There were _children_ at home! Watching! And now that is going to be seared into their eyes forever! They will cry, Thomas, and they will climb into their parents’ beds, and they will be taken to doctors, and they will have nightmares. You cannot quantify everything.

“You are a terrorist.”

Thomas Wayne keeps the phone. He remembers, now, _why_ he had married Martha Kent.

“Keep me on the straight and narrow,” he had whispered to her on their wedding night.

“You really know how to ruin a mood.”

He'd smiled, and nibbled his way down. She moaned.

But when it came her turn to reciprocate, she turned off the lights.

"Goodnight, Thomas."

She found male genitalia disgusting. The way it just _hung_ , all out. She wished men didn't have penises. 

Thomas turned over, and brought himself to a finish. She hugged him when he was done.

"Thank you, honey," she sighed. "That was very nice."

"It was, wasn't it."


	10. Chapter 10

Martha takes Robbie and tries to leave.

Thomas doesn’t know what to do.

“He’s not an asset! I will not let him go down this path!”

“Gotham is burning down all around us! What if Robert is the only one who can put out the flames?”

“Then goodbye, Gotham. My son will not be the price. Do you understand me? If Mary had a say in what was happening to Jesus, he would never have been put on the cross. But it was God the Father. God the Holy Fucking Father. Who loved the world more than he loved his own son.”

“One life against billions.”

“I _told_ you you cannot quantify everything!”

"I'm not making a choice for him that I wouldn't make for myself."

"Then quantify yourself! You were never a true father, Thomas. If Robert had been your son, your _begotten_ son, he would have received care, and compassion, and fucking understanding! But just because he came out of a spaceship? Just because he has powers? Fuck you! Fuck you, Thomas Wayne!"

"Martha..." Thomas tries to hold her back.

"Don't you fucking touch me."

"I'm sorry, Martha. Please don't go."

It was the first and last time Robert would ever see his father in tears.

"Martha. You are sweet, and brave, and honorable, in all the ways I am not. We are...two pieces of the same puzzle. No, fuck that. That came out wrong. Without me, you will find your own path. But I, without you, am lost. My North Star.

"Please, Martha. We are a family. Family, first. Always."

"Promise me that, Thomas." Martha Wayne is close to tears. "Promise me that Robbie is _family first_."

"Yes. Yes. He is family. He is my son. He is my newborn child. I see him emerge out of you, bloody and bawling. I see myself holding him in my arms, and looking into his eyes, and _knowing_. That I am a father. I see him, with his tiny grasp, holding my finger."

Martha sinks down onto her knees. She pulls Thomas down with her.

"Pray with me.

"Pray for our boy.

"Pray that our world is worthy of him."


	11. Chapter 11

There is a time in a man’s life he has to make a choice.

His son or his life.

He chooses his son.

His son or his wife.

He chooses his son.

His son or his country?

He chooses his son.

His son or the world?

He chooses his son.

What do you think happens to the man’s feelings for his son?

Every time he looks at his son, all he sees are his wife, his country, his world. Everything he has sacrificed for his son.

He does not resent his son. But he starts resenting the part of him that cares for his son.

Thomas Wayne starts resenting the part of him that cares for Robert.

It is the only part of himself he has been fond of.


	12. Chapter 12

Batman is a pariah. Batman is the Enemy.

Thomas had anticipated the public’s antipathy towards Batman. But he did not expect it to rise so soon.

There are rallies outside City Hall. There are chants. There is singing. There is a public candlelight vigil.

Andrew McCarthy becomes a public folk hero. A martyr in the eyes of the adoring millions, who could not relate to the black demon in the mask, but could relate to his screaming, writhing, sizzling victim.

He was corrupt. No matter. He had caused honest young men to die. No matter.

It is the last impression that anyone makes that remains with the people around them.

“Are we done, Dad?

“Are you done?”

“No, Robert. My work has just begun.”

“But they hate you.”

“They should. And I must protect them regardless.”

“But…doesn’t it ever _reach_ you?” Robert asks, with a look in his eyes beyond his years. “All the pain and the…singing?”

His father leans back in his chair. They are in the basement, a network of underground caverns Thomas has chosen because they are so quiet. Oh, and because they’ve got _bats_.

“Robert. Bruce. Listen to me.

“One day, they will hate you too.

“Yes. This is not a prophecy or a prediction. This is if you do your job right.

“Do you remember Chief Commissioner Gordon?”

“Yes.”

“He has a daughter. Barbara. She is studying to become a librarian. She called me.”

“What did she tell you?”

“She thanked me.”

“How did she…?”

“She’s awfully smart.

“Bruce. Those are the opinions that matter.”


	13. Chapter 13

Over the course of the next two years, Batman goes from Public Enemy Number One to Only Public Enemy. (All the others are dead.)

There is a string of mass murders and hysterical grief. People are feeling watched. They are feeling unsafe.

But no one notices (or maybe some do) that the crime rate is dwindling. Gotham’s Red Light Districts are going out of business, because the steady stream of bodies coming in dies down.

Mafia leaders are hunted down and killed in their own beds. They beg by their mothers and fathers. They beg by their children’s lives, to be spared. Sometimes they are killed in front of said mothers and fathers and children.

To be a criminal in Gotham is to have a death wish. So while the ordinary people feel afraid, they also get safer.

People don’t remember the things that don’t happen to them, naturally. They remember the feeling they have in the pit of their stomachs when they walk down the street at night.

Sometimes, there are reports. Strange reports. That Batman sends an emissary, like Hermes, to announce his coming presence. The emissary is a young boy. He is as angelic as Batman is cruel. And he smiles sweetly, as he informs you of your death within the next seventy two hours.

He is untouchable.

This is to let you know there is nothing you can do about it. But it is also to flush you out into the open. Some people feel safer in daylight, among the crowds. They think that Batman would not pick them off in public. (They forget his first appearance.)

Others lock themselves in. Steel bars. The warden of a prison once put himself in solitary. A burglar locked himself in a safe.

These are the easiest to pick off. No one stays locked up forever. Batman simply waits. They usually don’t provide for their food, drink, _other_ needs. They don’t provide for the overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia that sets in after just a few hours. 

Robert Bruce Wayne has turned seven. His mother is very sick.

She has caught a deadly combination of typhoid and malaria, from working in Gotham’s slums. While Thomas has been making headlines, Martha had been working, slowly but surely, deep inside Gotham’s underbelly. They make a good team.

Sometimes Martha gives Thomas a tip, or a hint. Sometimes she tells him what to do, who to kill.

This one’s husband, who beat her to a pulp and cut out her baby from her womb. That one’s mother, who forced her son’s head down into a toilet bowl and flushed, causing him to choke which resulted in severe brain damage.

Robert is oftentimes left alone. But he is never lonely. His mother and father are right by his side. He practices his chokeholds, his backflips, his precision and control exercises. He practices how to use his laser eyes (a newly acquired power). He speed reads all the books in his library, all the information he can get his hands on online. Everything is useful. He stores it all in his memory palace, which his father taught him how to make. He meditates. He exercises his eidetic memory.

He learns all the martial arts in the world.

“Why do I need martial arts, dad?”

“Do you know the cause of your powers?”

“My being an alien?”

“Yes, but do you know _how_?”

“No.”

“Then how can you be so sure that whatever is causing it won’t just _stop_ , all of a sudden?”

“Um…”

“You don’t. That’s why.”

Thomas is now learning from Robert. He is relying on him, more and more.

"Son, you are a prodigy. You know more than I ever can, in my entire life. But remember this. Knowing is not the same as experiencing. When you go out into the world, you will feel like a child.

"That is why I'm going to let you accompany me. Don't tell your mother."

"Okay, Dad."


	14. Chapter 14

Martha Wayne recovers. Robert lets out the breath he hadn't even known he was holding.

Thomas doesn't have a good feeling in his stomach. Martha looks too...delicate. Ethereal.

"Martha. Honey. Sweetheart. Maybe just rest for a little while, okay? Let Robbie take care of you."

"But the charity bake sale at the orphanage was tonight. I have to..."

"Relax. I'll take care of it."

"What, the bake sale? Batman...bakes?"

Thomas laughs. "Another one of my amazing superpowers."

Martha rolls her eyes.

"Robert, would you be an angel and close the window? The light is streaming in on my face."

"Yes, ma."

He gets up and shuts the window.

"Good boy. Come here. Sit next to your poor, sick, old, weak mama."

"You're not sick, old or weak, Ma. Your best years are ahead of you."

"How sweet of you to say, Robbie. So are yours."

Robert looks at her. Then he crawls into bed and places his mother's head on his lap. He strokes her thinning strands of auburn hair, tinged with grey flecks, that somehow make her look all the more beautiful.

"Mama. I love you."

"I love you too, Robbie." She turns over and closes her eyes. Robert rests his head on the mantle-piece, and drifts off.

Martha Wayne dies in her sleep that night.


	15. Chapter 15

A father and a son bury their mother. Their dry eyes show they haven't felt the shock of it yet. The wintry air blows all around them, drafts chilling their hair and leaving icicles in their stomachs. The morning is in mourning: grey and venerable. They totter and stumble on the edge of the salty grave they have just dug, uncertain what death means and whether it is permanent. They're both sure they're about to wake up.

They walk back in a daze. Thomas lies down on the couch, and closes his eyes. Robert kneels beside his father.

"Dad."

Thomas makes no reply.

So Robert gets up and walks silently to the kitchen, where he fixes himself a bowl of cereal and eats it in quiet contemplation. He's going to go up to his mother's room, and put all her clothes away in storage. He is going to leave no reminder of her in the house. _He_ has to be the strong one.

It will be as if she had never been there.


	16. Chapter 16

That night, Robin makes his debut. He is no longer Hermes, messenger of death. He is the Savior.

A couple are driving down a bridge. The bridge has been swaying for some time. The authorities have barricaded it. They break through the barricade. The woman is in labor, and time is running out.

Suddenly, the car is lifted into the air. No one can tell if it's a miracle (miracles don't happen in Gotham) or just the wind being merciful. It is dropped onto the other side. The woman screams. The baby's head is poking out. But the man is in no condition to drive.

Thomas Wayne picks himself up and dusts himself off. The witch is dead. And he has work to do.

He remembers all the the fights, all the misunderstandings. Good riddance. Martha, I will not miss you.

He's going up the stairs.

He sinks to his knees.

And screams.

It is not the sound of a haunted man. It is the scream of a soul in torment.

Robert hears his father's scream all the way across Gotham. He knows. It has struck.


	17. Chapter 17

Martha Martha Martha come back to me, Martha I won't let you work in those awful hovels I'll stop being Batman I'll give you all the money in the world, Martha I'll take you on vacations and trips to Switzerland and buy you jewels and furs and petticoats and Robert will be in a tux and we'll all go dancing in the lights and the sound and there won't be anymore blood and Martha Martha Martha will you please...

Just come back

Please

Give me another chance, and I'll be good

That night, Salvatore Maroni is ambushed in his prison cell. The guards hear a shout, but there is a thunderstorm, so they put it down to the trees.

The next day, Salavatore Maroni's eyes don't open. They toss back the blankets on the prison bunk.

His body has been replaced by pillows.


	18. Chapter 18

Batman and Robin. Life and death.

They learn to play a game. Gotham is Robin's in the day, and Batman's in the night. Neither of them interfere. 

It is understood that Robin doesn't kill. It is understood that Batman only kills. _Be the yin to my yang, and I'll be the yang to your yin._

The father carries the sin so the son doesn't have to. The son earns the favor of the city, while the father is reviled in the night. But without the father, there is no justice. Without the son, there is no hope.


	19. Chapter 19

Selina Kyle. Runaway orphan. Aspiring cat burglar. 

Selina Kyle doesn't remember her parents. She is not bothered by this fact. She remembers that she is alive.

She remembers the blood flowing in her veins. The blood that is telling her to fly. 

Selina Kyle flies. (Through other people's windows, usually.)

She doesn't notice the shadow flitting behind her. 

Take me to church

I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies

I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife

Offer me that deathless death

Good God, let me give you my life!

Selina Kyle ends up in juvie. She is lucky she is eight.

If she was eighteen, she would have never walked again.


	20. Chapter 20

"Robert."

Bruce doesn't look up from his device.

"Robert!"

Bruce still doesn't look up. His father comes and takes his chin in his hand, and turns his face up towards him. "I said, Robert!"

"I'm Bruce."

"Bruce. I never got to talk. About what happened."

Bruce continues scrutinizing the police scanner reports.

Thomas sits down.

"I'm sorry, Bruce. I...was so involved in my own pain, I forgot to share. My grief. I'm sorry I didn't hold you."

"You're always sorry, dad." 

Bruce gets up and walks away.


	21. Chapter 21

Robin runs away.

_I can go anywhere I want to. I can fly the span the universe. I own this galaxy, these stars._

He goes to Metropolis.

Metropolis is the city his father is always talking about. The city he wants to turn Gotham into. All light and sunshine. Steel and chrome, even the air smells different here.

If his father gave chase, he would make sure he never came after him again.

He's tired of all the killing. He's tired of the blood and the chaos. He's tired of the faint smell of vinegar and ammonia emanating from his father's shirt.

He's tired that it never seems to get over.

There's always a new crime boss. Always somebody ready to pick up where the previous one left off.

Bruce remembers the law of the jungle. Survival of the fittest. 

Gotham's criminals have gotten tougher, stronger, stranger. His dad is coming back with more and more injuries every night.

Sometimes it's acid flowers. Other times it's poison vines. Once it was an _umbrella_. A fucking umbrella.

Is it any wonder he wants to escape?

_Daddy, come with me._

_I can't abandon Gotham, son._

_But you've only made it worse!_

Criminals before were in it for the profit. For the power. For the family.

Now they're in it because they _can._ Because they're freaks.

Robin is never happy. Metropolis has no crime to speak of. 

The first day he is here, there is a fire at a laboratory. He flies there and puts it out with his Arctic wind.

Turns out it is arson. Some guy called Lionel Luthor is trying to collect the insurance on his failing company. Bruce shrugs. He doesn't interfere with insurance fraud.

All that is the grown-up world of the adults. He came here to be a child.


	22. Chapter 22

Selina breaks out of juvie when she is nine.

She has learnt several useful life-skills. She's learnt how to pick locks and squeeze out of handcuffs from an older girl, and the theory behind unlocking a dial-combination safe. Who said the education system doesn't work?

She makes her way to Metropolis. Word on the street says Robin is the guy you want to get in trouble with. He lets you off, apparently, with a very, very strict warning. There's been a mass immigration of undesirables to Metropolis, and Selina blends right in.

There's plenty of fish in the sea. The sea is swimming with fish. Selina doesn't even know where to start. She gawks all day at the shops selling minks and diamonds and antiques, stores who clearly don't fear burglary as much as not attracting enough customers. She'd heard that everyone in Metropolis is rich, and can see where that rumor has come from.

She rubs her hands mentally.

Bruce is tired. His father has just called him for the third time this week, asking him to 'tighten his grip' on 'his' city. "You're _inviting_ trouble. Metropolis is not thanking you right now."

"Go to hell, Dad," he had muttered. "At least I'm not a murderer."

"Yes. At least there's that," said his father's dry, sarcastic voice.

"Fuck you."

"You've really matured ever since you left."

"I can't, okay? I can't do what you do."

"And I'm not asking you to. But there's the law, at least."

"The law sucks."

"Well, then, you might as well _join_ them, if you're not going to stop them."

"It's not the same."

"Robin. The net result is all that matters. Whether I kill or don't kill is not what counts, but how many people die at the end of the day. And if less people die because of me, then I'll gladly be a murderer."

"Then you'll go to hell."

"Hell's a fine place. Interesting folks."

"I wish Mom were alive to hear you say that! You always behaved when she was alive. Should have known it was fucking hypocrisy."

"Alright Bruce, there's only so much of your misplaced rage I can take. Good night." 

Bruce hears a scuffing of shoes against marble floors. It's three blocks over, in a mall. A pause, and then a _click, click, click_.

He's there before he knows it.

"Oh, hello, Robin."

Selina smiles. 


	23. Chapter 23

Robin starts working with Metropolis city authorities to control the influx of Gotham criminals that have followed from his advent. He had sworn an oath on his mother's grave to fight the good fight.

Selina becomes his partner. She is not into the crime-fighting, but being with a super-powered being who can fly has its perks. 

She remembers the day they met...

How Robin had looked at her. How she had smiled. Waiting. Expecting. And he had simply turned away, and started weeping.

She didn't know what to do. So she simply went over and hugged him. He was just a kid. Like her. Lost. Alone in the fucking night. In an uncaring world.

"I don't know that I want to stop you," he said after a little while. "You're just a little girl. You need the money. So go ahead. Take it. Grab it and get out of here."

Selina looked at him. She had never seen a kid filled with so much self-loathing, so much angst.

So she shoved all the cash she could get her hands on and stuffed it in her duffel. And then, she held out her hand. 

"Let's go grab a burger."

"I don't wanna."

She sat down next to him and sighed. "You know what I would give to be in your shoes right now?"

He looked up at that.

"And do you know what I would give to be in yours?"

"Yeah, I can guess." she said simply.

They went home that night. His home, not hers. It was a barely furnished pad. He wrapped her up in his cape. "You're too young to be out here alone."

"Yes. I am."

He nodded.

"Go to sleep. You're safe."

"I want to save my father," he tells her one day, while they are eating pizza.

She is used to his brusque introductions into his thought. Her mouth is full of pepperoni and cheese. She nods. That is all the encouragement he needs.

"I know I can find a better way. A more humane way. Selina. There _must_ be."

"Your dad put me in juvie. Imma get back at him for that."

"No. You don't understand. He doesn't blame you. He doesn't blame himself. He's a fatalist. Sees himself as an agent of the universe. With no free will."

"So why not just sit down and let the universe take its course?"

"Because he _can't_."

"That's stupid."

"Yeah. On the one hand, he wants to assert his will on destiny and all creation, and on the other..."

"Can I get one more mozzarella?"

"Yeah." Bruce calls over the man and gives him the order.

"So. How do I save him."

"You're asking me?"

"It's been done before. By my mother. She used to soften him up. But ever since she died, I thought that door was closed. And then you came into my life."

Selina looks up.

"I'm not gonna be the key in some master plan of yours. Just telling you."

"I'll give you my mother's pearls."

Selina's eyes widen. 

"They're awfully precious. They're the only piece of jewellery my dad allowed my mom to keep. The rest he insisted she sell to save the people of Gotham. And I'll give them to you. In return for your help."

"What do you want me to do?"

Bruce tells her.

"You're crazy."

"Yes. Most probably."


	24. Chapter 24

The idea is simple. Selina breaks into a safe at Gotham Central. Batman shows up. Robin waits in the shadows.

Robin uses his powers against his father to put an end to his reign of terror. He and Selina split up the spoils. She can have the night, he'll have the day.

Bruce will have to build a prison. He'll have to hold his father captive for as long as it takes. To break him. To scratch the surface, get under the anger and the blindness, to _make_ him see the pain.

"Are you sure you have the guts for it?"

"It's a question of heart."

Thomas Wayne was never a good man. Bruce realizes now. He's a _freak_ , simply because he can.

And his mother would still be alive if it weren't for Thomas Wayne. 

He knew how Thomas' first instinct had been to shoot him.

_He's been shooting me all along._

Bruce remembers Selina. What kind of Gotham did he want to leave for her?

The sort she couldn't ever go back to?


	25. Chapter 25

It's been ten years. 

Bruce has gone back. He has reclaimed his city. 

He has built a cage. 

He has put his father in it. 

His _father_. 

He has taken on his mantle. 

He wonders, one day, about his spaceship. 

He wonders if it will take him back. 

If he could go back home. 

There is a team of heroes now. They call themselves the 'League of Justice'. 

They ask Bruce to be a part of their team. 

An Amazon. A speedster. An archer. A space cop. An Atlantean. 

And they want Bruce to be their leader. 

"You are good," they say. 

"You are a hero.

"Your cities are a model of peace and freedom.

"Stand beside us."

Until yesterday, Bruce would have said no. 

Until yesterday. 


	26. Chapter 26

_Robert_. _My son._

_Martha's son._

_Let me tell you a story._

_Once upon a time._

_There was a civilization, noble and grand. A civilization which had conquered all its demons._

_Hunger. Poverty. Crime. Old age._

_Death._

_They built something, lasting and strong. An_ _d_ _they looked out at the rest of the universe from a place of humility._

_They wanted to give something back. They didn't know how._

_They sent spaceships. Scouts. Emissaries. Messengers._

_All came back with stories of horrendous violence and ill will. Xenophobia, you see, does not discriminate._

_They were feared. They brought immense power, and in them people only saw the power they had to destroy._

_But one of their messengers came back with something different._

_He had seen a planet, he said--_

_With a race just like their own. Without their power..._

_But with their strength. Their strength of will, their strength of character._

_A race of tremendous cruelty. A race of tremendous reward._

_A race, he said, to mirror t_ _heir own._

_There was tremendous uproar. But the man would not tell them the planet's name. For, you see, he was afraid._

_Afraid that with such infinite power as they possessed, the planet would not stand a chance._

_And he was in love with that planet. With it's gentleness. It's fragility._

_He decided to give it a gift._

_And the gift was you._

_His own son._

_He sent your mother and I a message, soon after we recieved you. A message beamed from the stars._

_"I have chosen you after having watched you. Having seen your struggles, your flaws, your fights._

_"I know you want the best for your world. I know you are the wrong people to achieve it. You are not perfect. Not even close._

_"But I believe in you. And I believe in my son. I think, together, you will show each other a path better than the one you each will find alone."_

_I have let him down, my son. I have let down your father._

_But you have not. You have shown me something I can scarce credit possible. Something I will not lived to see to completion._

_That humanity's longing for hope is stronger than its repulsion from fear._

_And now, I rest in peace. And in peace, do I join your mother._

_Yours forever--_

_Thomas Wayne._


End file.
